ASIAF Responds To John McCain's Acceptance Speech

-AF

Oh No He Didn't!

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Georgia) calls Barack & Michelle "uppity." Not once, but twice. The Hill has the dirt. And I do mean dirt.






It was only a matter of time before the GOP switched from code word "elitist" to what they really mean: "uppity."

Have I told you lately just how much these people sicken me?

-AF
(HT: TPM)

You Be The Judge

Was McCain checking out Sarah Palin's ass during her announcement presser or was he just nodding off? 10 times in the first 60 seconds is crazy. This video is fairly massive on YouTube. MSM takes notice...

CNN's Jeanne Moos takes a hard, err, look:

"We're convinced he was just catching a look at whatever was on the podium," she stated. "The moral of the story? Don't look down."

Yeah, right. Raw has the CNN report here.

-AF

Media Myths About Sarah Palin

Media Matters has a handy dandy list.

#1. Media reports Palin's opposition of "bridge to nowhere" but not her previous support for it. Then there's this lil' nugget:

Fact is, Alaska took the bridge money, and then just spent it on other projects.

-AF

McCain Was Against Palin Earmarks

Unbelievable. While mayor, Palin earmarks made John McCain's own naughty "pork list" three times. The LA Times has the skinny.
-AF

*Update: Time has oh, so much more in "Mayor Palin: A Rough Record"...

John McCain was clear about why he picked half-term Alaska governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate. "I found someone with an outstanding reputation for standing up to special interests and entrenched bureaucracies," he said in introducing her in Dayton, Ohio, on Friday. Palin was someone, he noted, "who reached across the aisle and asked Republicans, Democrats and independents to serve in government."

McCain does have a serious potential post-Senate career as an insult comic.

** Update #2: TPM sez that last year, Palin requested more earmarks per person than any other state -- including some that were criticized by McCain himself.

They Said It. I Repeat It.

"The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government. And I won't be buried under their damn flag. I'll be buried in Dawson. And when Alaska is an independent nation they can bring my bones home."

Joe Vogler, Alaska Independence Party Founder

(H/T) TPM

Palin Belonged To & AK Secession Party

Palin's back story gets more and more bizarre. In the '90's she belonged to the Alaska Independence Party (AKIP's server's currently down. Wikipedia article here). Earlier this year she even recorded a message for their convention.


The AKIP wants Alaska to split for the US.

This is who McCain wants a heartbeat away from the Presidency.

ABC News has the poop.

-AF

*Update (9/3/08): Josh Marshall has more:

Sarah Palin supposedly wasn't a member of the AIP. But she courted the group repeatedly over the years, and her husband was a member for around seven years.

In Case You Hadn't Noticed

I went AWOL for most of the summer. I was pretty far out of pocket for most of that time but the truth is more complicated.

In early June, I learned that a literal lifelong friend has end-stage cancer. I was in shock then and am still. Now I can't say that we were super-close but she has always been exceedingly generous and kind to my entire family. This person has been one of the few constants in my life. I'm also taking this so hard because I lost another such constant three years ago in a horrific car accident.

As you can imagine, my heart and mind just weren't in writing. But I've since accepted that there's nothing I can do. I have to hope for the best and get on with my life. You're never far from my thoughts, B. Godspeed.

-AF

Palin's Pastors

I'm an unabashed fan of Harper's Ken Silverstein. Ken takes a hard look at Sarah Palin's pastors. Her current Pastor Mike Rose has links to wannabe Armageddon catalyst John Hagee.

Here's a few of Pastor Mike's greatest hits:

“Do you believe we’re in the last days? After listening to Newt Gingrich and the prime minister of Israel and a number of others at our gathering, I became convinced, and I have been convinced for some time. We are living in the last days. These are incredible times to live in.”

Then there's: “

If you really want to know where you came from and happen to believe the word of God that you are not a descendant of a chimpanzee, this is what the word of God says. I believe this version.”

and who could forget that all-time great:

“Those that die without Christ have a horrible, horrible surprise.”

Nice stuff. Has that classic feel to it. No wonder the Dobson and the rest signed-off on Palin.

David Pepper, the senior pastor at her "home" church, is equally scary:

“The purpose for the United States is… to glorify God. This nation is a Christian nation.”

Man, have we ever got to put a stop to these people from completely taking over this country.

-AF

Radical Christian Group Picked McCain Veep

Yep, it was billed as The Return of The Maverick! The McCain campaign may want us to believe "his" Palin pick was intended as gesture to disaffected Hillary supporters (which just so happens to call attention to Dem disunity too). Nothing could be further from the truth. He sold out to the Jesus masters.

Via Talk To Action:

Last week, while the media focused almost obsessively on the DNC's spectacle in Denver, the country's most influential conservatives met quietly at a hotel in downtown Minneapolis to get to know Sarah Palin. The assembled were members of the Council for National Policy, an ultra-secretive cabal that networks wealthy right-wing donors together with top conservative operatives to plan long-term movement strategy.

CNP members have included Tony Perkins, James Dobson, Grover Norquist, Tim LaHaye and Paul Weyrich. At a secret 2000 meeting of the CNP, George W. Bush promised to nominate only pro-life judges; in 2004, then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist told the group, "The destiny of the nation is on the shoulders of the conservative movement." This year, thanks to Sarah Palin's selection, the movement may have finally aligned itself behind the campaign of John McCain.

Though Dobson and Perkins reportedly attended the recent CNP meeting in Minneapolis, a full roster of guests would be nearly impossible to require. The CNP deliberately operates below the radar, going to excessive lengths to obscure its activities. According to official CNP policy, "The media should not know when or where we meet or who takes part in our programs before or after a meeting." Thus the CNP's Minneapolis gathering was free of reporters. I only learned of the get-together through an online commentary by one of its attendees, top Dobson/Focus on the Family flack Tom Minnery.

The 2008 Republican Vice-Presidential nominee was chosen by America's most powerful radical Christian activist leaders and their rich friends.*

Scary shit, folks. I called it on Friday.

I would have far rather been wrong.

-AF
(H/T: Crooks&Liars)

*Update: McCain's campaign raised $47 million last week including $10 million since the Palin picked. CNP's pals have deep pockets indeed.